Is God on Your To-Do List?

The Glorious Table is delighted to welcome New York Times Best-selling author Karen Ehman to the table today. This devotion is taken in part from Karen’s newest release, Pressing Pause: 100 Quiet Moments for Moms to Meet with Jesus (Zondervan, 2016), co-authored with Ruth Schwenk of The Better Mom. 

“In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus.”

 “She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations.” (Luke 10:39–40 NASB)

I glanced at the clock on the wall. How was it 11:45 a. m. already? It was nearly noon, and I wasn’t even halfway through my to-do list for the morning.

My day had started hours earlier when I bounded out of bed with a goal of checking off a bevy of tasks I’d scrawled on a legal pad. My list included things to cook, calls to make, and errands to run. Now at midday, I still had four or five items left to do and no way to accomplish them before my 1 p. m. dental appointment.

My spirit sank. What’s my problem? I wondered. Did I underestimate how long each task would take? Or did I overestimate my ability to execute them quickly? Maybe it was a little bit of both.

I also hadn’t factored in the interruptions. A text from my daughter needing help on a tax form. An e-mail from a friend wanting a recipe since she had company coming over later that day. More distractions and delays.

A little nervous about my dental appointment, I called my friend Mary to ask for prayer. As we talked, I shared the details of my frustrating morning and asked how her day was going. Mary replied that she hadn’t completed what she’d hoped to either, concluding, “But I had a good, long time alone with God this morning praying and reading my Bible, which is what I needed most, so it’s okay.”

My heart sank as I realized my problem: I hadn’t taken time for the most important detail of the day. Spending time with God wasn’t even on my radar. Maybe if I had spent time with him, I wouldn’t have felt so frustrated by my lack of productivity.

Luke 10 tells of another woman who put chores ahead of spending time with Jesus. Martha was busy scurrying to get to the end of her to-do list, but her sister Mary chose a different path. She settled herself at Jesus’ feet, soaking in his words and his presence.

There’s no doubt Martha’s sister Mary also had things to do. So did my friend Mary. But in the case of each Mary, they chose to do the best thing first: position themselves where they could clearly hear from the Lord.

Perhaps today we can set aside our to-do lists until we’ve followed the example of the Marys. Let’s vow to meet with God before we attempt to meet the challenges of the day. Yes, maybe that’s the key. [Tweet “Let’s stop scurrying and be seated instead.”]

There’s always plenty of room at his feet.

• When planning out your daily tasks, how often do you factor in time to meet with Jesus?
• If you don’t regularly do this, how can you begin to cultivate this habit into your day?

Dear Lord, help me to take time today to meet with You before I try to tackle the tasks of the day. Give me the perspective that You are more important than my never-ending list of tasks. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Scripture for Reflection

“She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations.” (Luke 10:39 NASB)

Reach for More

This week’s challenge is to press pause and wait at Jesus’ feet. Listen to what Jesus says–but even more–set aside the frantic to-do list and listen to his priorities for your day. You don’t have to measure the success of this challenge by how long you sit silently, but by how sincerely you apply his instruction.

Don’t be afraid of what might happen if your to-do list gets readjusted. Be afraid of what might happen if you continue the day without his guidance. Let’s be careful to soak up his Word and his presence.  Let’s do less scurrying this week. Are you in?

Please, come back and leave a comment telling us about how God spoke to you this week, or share your progress on social media using the hashtag #tgtreachformore. We would love to hear from you.

Karen Ehman is a Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and New York Times best-selling author. Described as profoundly practical, engagingly funny and downright real, her passion is to help women to live their priorities and love their lives as they serve God and others. Karen writes for Encouragement for Today, is the Speaker Track Director of Proverbs 31’s She Speaks Conference and a teaching staff member of their writers’ training site COMPEL, and has authored seven books including Hoodwinked: Ten Myths Moms Believe and Why We All Need to Knock It Off. Her favorite ways to spend her time, though, are to chat with her grown daughter, watch her oldest son pop wheelies on his dirt bike, and cheer for her youngest son in the football stands or baseball bleachers. She also is content to just hang out with her man doing absolutely nothing at all. You can find her at karenehman.com.